Young Seas & Old Men
by penniless1
Summary: "Dark King" Rayleigh's been sailing most of his lifetime - he has plenty of memories from all the Blues and the Grand Line itself.  What he wonders about the most during one Shabondy twilight is the young seas he will leave in his wake.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author says:**_

__Yeah, yeah, yeah, why am I putting up a new story when I've got at least 4 to finish? Because the plot bunny hit me, I wanted to try out a few new styles, and it is the crushed carcass of my poor attempt at the One Piece Big Bang with Rayleigh as the main subject.

Nothing much to warn about other than piratical vocabulary skills or lack thereof. If you find something, feel free to let me know and I'll update for triggers.

Now, on with the story.

* * *

><p>Rayleigh sits on the cliff as he stares out towards Raftel, his long, grey hair streaming with the sea breeze and his calm, blue eyes sparkling from behind his glasses. His liquor is long gone from its ornate bottle, having briefly passed through the cut-crystal shot glass that now laid shattered on the rocks below. He blatantly ignores the marines as they attempt to surround him in a wide, semicircular human corral, the pounding surf of the Grand Line his only escape, should he ever have a mind to clutch to that scant hope. He figures he may shatter into slightly bigger pieces than his glass did, but he's pretty much felt that way for some twenty-two odd years now.<p>

He's not sure he can survive much more breakage - he's been through far too much already and has the stress fractures to prove it, if Shakky wasn't just being mean again.

He can hear the booted footsteps of two fairly young-sounding marines behind his stooped back. The footfalls aren't as heavy and clumsy as he would expect of a normal person - his rock-hard control over his _haki_ slips just a bit in warning. The boots stop abruptly while in the background, hundreds of other leather-shod feet shuffle, trip and in more than a few cases, run for safer cover a few islands away.

Much better. Maybe these fellows would be suitable.

"Rayleigh "Dark Waters" Silvers?" an adolescent voice quavers, but not from fear. No, this voice quavers on the cusp of adulthood, already ripe in wisdom even though the skin is still a bit green.

"By the powers invested in me as Vice-Admiral in the World Government's Naval Forces, I hereby place you under arrest for aiding and abetting the illegal activities of Monkey D. Luffy. I ask that you come with us quietly, however, if you choose to resist arrest, know that I have the authority to determine whether you should be brought in alive and stand trial - or dead after my summary judgment."

The voice stirs a bit of a memory in the old pirate. This, he thinks, is a voice that is very much like-yet-unlike that of his last pupil.

The old pirate flares his _haki_ a bit more blatantly. As he expects, numerous lower-ranking marines drop like flies, frothing at the mouth with their eyes rolled back into their heads. The two sets of World Government-issued boots behind him, however, remain steady. Rayleigh is inordinately pleased. He lets the power subside and turns his self-deprecating mirth back out to the Grand Line.

"That brat is a lot like the sea, you know."

The boots shuffle a bit, then separate. One pair - the lighter step of the two - approaches him from his left side, at an angle. Smoothly, they drop into a crouch, bringing a pink-tinged mop of hair into view, along with a yellow headband and a pair of fiendishly thick glasses. Rayleigh is not so drunk or old as to have forgotten the "Voice of Reason" from Whitebeard's War.

"Getting a beard now, young man? Good, but a might scraggly, don't you think?" Rayleigh chuckles as he rubs his own distinctive goatee. Behind his back he can clearly hear Coby's first mate turning around and pointedly ignoring any and all conversation that might slip out of his commanding officer's mouth. On any other day, Rayleigh may have been at least a bit tempted by the long, free-swinging blonde locks and tall, straight frame of Ensign Helmeppo, but Coby is pulling a flask and two plain shot glasses from his coat pockets so he can't afford the distraction.

"You're a lot like him, but opposite, too," Rayleigh muses aloud as Coby settles the glasses on the ground and uncorks the flask. "Like a young sea fighting a dawning sky."

Coby simply smiles and blushes and hides his face in his unruly mop of strawberry-blonde hair as he pours grog in both glasses. Rayleigh _likes_ that fresh-faced flush, bloodthirsty old seaman that he is, so he slashes again with his words.

"Though I bet you've found your own sun to ride you through the day, yes Ensign Helmeppo? What about an old moon for your night duties?"

Helmeppo's toes are drawing tight in his boots and Coby's face is slanderously red when he drains his shot and refreshes it. Rayleigh roars in delighted laughter at the stubborn streak that keeps both marines silent.

"Very smart! Don't mind the prattle of an old sea hound. You are so unlike-yet-like, you two are," Rayleigh manages to explain as he calms himself and takes up the glass that still sits on the ground. "He would have probably told me all about his day and night duties."

Rayleigh's head is turned upwards as the alcohol burns a road down his throat. He hears the squeak of Coby turning the glass, followed by a sigh as the young man settles himself more comfortably.

"How is he? I mean, after...after..."

Rayleigh smiles and shakes his head in slight amazement. He should have known that the young sea had left its mark on the new dawn already.

"Met him before, Oh Voice of Reason?"

Helmeppo doesn't even bother to stifle his grumble and rattles his knives in their sheaths. Rayleigh finds the non-answer intriguing as he glances at Coby's open face.

"Oh? Him and...hmm, let's see if my brains are still working under all this grey hair. Ah, that's it! Him and his anchor well acquainted with you two?"

Coby is the one to not-answer this time, his mouth screwing down tightly and tears sprouting from his large, weak eyes with alarming alacrity. Rayleigh is somewhat disappointed that this is how the sky and the sea are so similar, but the answer is very clear. The old man takes the flask and refills both shot glasses, then turns back to the ocean vista, his tired eyes locked on the horizon where sky and sea meet, joined by an umbilical cord of land called Raftel.

He and Coby and Helmeppo are silent for a while, as the sun starts to slip below the waves. It takes time for the grog to loosen rusty tongues and pry open long-locked gates, but eventually it works its ancient magic on Rayleigh. It only takes the flask and two more bottles fetched by a weary, muttering, frowning Helmeppo to get all three of them to relax around each other.

It is just as Helmeppo's guard drops enough to lay his head in Coby's lap and curl his lanky body around his captain like a python that Rayleigh begins to speak. The wily old salt waits until the ensign is snoring softly with one had gripping the handle of a blade and the other clutching loosely at Coby's abdomen. It's a jarringly familiar sight, such that Rayleigh doesn't initially realise that he is talking aloud.

"Side-effect of Marineford?" he asks as Coby makes himself as comfortable as possible with Helmeppo acting as his blanket. Rayleigh catches the vice-admiral's slow, sorrowful nod in his peripheral vision.

"I love the sea - young or old. The waters of every single Blue has sung for my blood since I was 9 years-old and I've gone to all of them at some time or the other. But let me tell you - right here, right here at the middle of everything - this's the spot for me. I was happily settling down and waiting for Death to get serious about taking me when that young sea and his salty tears and sweat and blood called to me again, begging me to take one last adventure."

Coby snorts softly, even as he strokes Helmeppo's hair and arranges him so that the ensign doesn't snore as loudly. His voice strives to be bitter, but it's a thin disguise over his admiration, amazement, and adoration.

"He's like that, alright. He's like adventure personified. You can literally smell trouble when he's within 100 yards."

Rayleigh breathes deeply, inhaling the fine salty spray in the air, before nodding and smiling a little.

"Indeed you can, though what you call 'trouble,' I call 'fun.' Anyway, this young sea came and gripped me in such a way that I could only follow his current - when's he's on the move, he's like a riptide. You either go with the flow and wait until he releases you, or you fight it and drown in his wake."

From the corner of his eye, Rayleigh can see Coby nodding again, even while his mind drifts back to the immediate aftermath of Whitebeard's death only a few years ago.

[~~~~~~]

After all these years, I still find it vaguely irritating how well Shakky knows me - I mean truly _understands_ me. Occasionally, I've had reason to believe that she knows me better than I know myself.

It's quite a blow to my pride to think that I am so transparent. I have a facade to maintain as Roger's first mate, you know. If people could figure me out so quickly, why my gambling operations and the careful system of wins and losses that keep money in that woman's hands would be ruined! The consequences would be...well, never mind. You don't need to hear an old man rambling on about his housemate, but suffice it to say that there'd be an isle or two missing if we were to fight.

Anyway, it was Shakky who noticed it first - nothing gets past that woman! She took one look at that boy and she knew she'd be stuck paying the monthlies on the bar while I went out on another "excursion." I figure she had her eyes on Luffy well before he left East Blue - I'm not sure how she picks them, but she's never been wrong when it comes to separating the deadweight rookies from the real contenders. That's how she keeps winning more than I do on a point spread-

Sorry to put you to sleep there. I'm old now, I tend to ramble... Not as bad as Garp? Son, no-one can be as bad as Garp, but I'll thank you for the compliment anyhow. Now, what was I saying? I must be drunker than I thou-

Ah, yes, Shakky. She'd already taken a shine to Luffy and his crew, especially the orange-haired little girlie - Nami, yes, that's her name. She is so much like Shakky that I almost feel sorry for that first-mate...Zoro, is it? I can almost see them living the same way Shakky and I do in the next 60 years...well, provided that they even survive the next few months. Or that Luffy doesn't do something stupid to get them all killed tomorrow. With that crew, I wouldn't put down a wager any which way.

Now, since Shakky is a stickler for staying informed, she'd already given me a run down on _all_ the Strawhats. Of course, I was hooked once she showed me the hat - never thought that ingrate Shanks would know what to do with it, the lazy brat, but I'm more than happy to know that I was wrong. He really was the closest that Roger got to a son, when all's said and done.

Disrespect to Ace? None intended, of course. Of course. Nigh upon the whole world may have hated him because of the crews - marine and pirate alike! - that we destroyed, but in the lifetime of the Blues and the tides, that's neither here nor there. No, I'd never disrespect that young man's memory, but he was Whitebeard's son, really - blood not considered.

You know, when you get to thinking about it... I think it's part of being on the Line - a Line's man or woman, if you will allow my whimsy. You see, a true Line's dweller doesn't get the luxury of riding on parental coattails; we - people like you and I and your mate and Luffy and Ace and Shanks and Whitebeard and Garp and Dragon - we can't rely simply on blood to make a connection. The Grand Line is so vast and cruel and fickle that it takes far more than blood to rear a Line's dweller. Family comes from those who put in sweat and tears and muscle and will along with all that blood connection - no, rather, _in spite of_ all that blood connection. To be a part of this sea, young or old, you have to choose what strengths you want; you must choose your predecessors and successors. You must wring your model existence into being from the clay and seaweed and sand and rock and this Grand Line gives you the freedom to do so, even if it's only so she can dash you to bits with a vengeance.

She's quite like a turtle mother, you know. She will cast her eggs on many shores and nest them well, but to return to her bosom takes each hatchling's personal strength - be they fast or well-armored or sharp of beak or swimming in a group or floating alone.

I see your eyes, young one. You're most certainly one of her hatchling's. Just like him.

Tears? Boy, you may be one of her more successful ones, but you're as blind as a bat. I haven't cried since I watched the tide roll out with a sunny ship on its back some years ago.

[~~~~~~]

Got a light? Thank you, lad.

What? A cigar? Oh no, this light is for my lantern here. Shakky made me promise to take better care of my eyes, so I'm doing just that. She's annoyed that I give myself headaches trying to see in the dark and-

You _want _to share this cigar with me? I see.

Well, all right. One won't hurt this bag of meat and bones too much I suppose.

Oh my... This is from Garp's personal stock, isn't it? Ahahaha, yes, yes, I do recognize it - Garp won't tell, but occasionally we've had to put aside our moral compasses to fight a common enemy. Usually lasts about as long as we can stay out of each other's cannon range though.

You and your man there - you two probably do more good for the old man's heart and life expectancy than anything else. You're both more than worthy to replace the sky and the sea that slipped through that ham-fisted grasp of his.

I know Garp didn't mean it to be this way, but his son and grandson - one hates everything he stands for and the other feels betrayed by him. People in this world who are burdened with that D. in their name don't often get the luxury of loving their own. Something about their personalities clashes too hard - forces each D. out on his or her own to figure out their chosen goals and bonds and family and fate.

Rogers and Rouge weren't even exceptions to the rule. They loved each other a lot, but both had their determinations set and nothing was going to skew them any which way. Same as Luffy and Ace - even his brother's death won't shake that one off his trail.

I certainly wasn't going to allow it.

Cocking eyebrows at me, eh? Well, don't be too surprised - I was Rogers first mate, after all. Used to be that my ruthlessness was more feared than my captain's own. I'm a right bastard, son, down to the unmarried parents and all. I'll be one to the end of time if that's what it'll take to put another king on the throne. So yes, even if I had to twist, torture, warp, corrupt, or otherwise break and rebuild him from scratch, I was determined to get that young sea strong enough and wild enough to pound his way to Raftel.

In the end, it was surprisingly easy. I have to thank Jimbei for dealing with the hardest part; my patience has grown since Shanks and Buggy left us, but young men still make me grind my teeth too hard.

The thing is, Luffy's story isn't much different from a number of 'D.' tales. Early tragedy tends to be the basis of their lives; be it loss of parents, siblings, friends, towns. Usually it's a combination of all of the above and Luffy's just no different.

Nothing spectacular in and of itself. Many of us Line's dwellers have equally sad tales. I don't know if a single member of Luffy's crew has every known their true parents other than that sniper, but he's the most normal of them all. If he went off the deep end again, the sea would be without any sort of moral compass, I tell you.

Ha~! This is a pure work of tobacco art, my friend. Tell Garp I said, "Thanks." Now, let me see...

This? Oh, this is a journal I kept while I was training Luffy. My memory is hardly as capable as it used to be, so I tend to write things down nowadays. I know, not very criminal of me at all, but I'm aging; not much I can do against that.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we? "Day 1: New Eden."

That day was pretty bland really. After Jimbei got him to shape up, Boa Hancock and her crew shipped him out to the coordinates I left them. I'm a bit miffed that I had to swim out there - bloody waste of a decent vessel always annoys me - but then I got there in reasonable time.

Yes, yes I did swim through the Calm Belt. Seakings? Really, they ignore someone as harmless as I am. I was never in any danger from them and I would hurt them too much, of course-

I'm trying not to laugh, stripling, but your eyes look like bow lanterns right now. Need a minute to pull yourself together? All right, just don't go choking on me, now.

Anyway, after I was able to chase those damnable women away - now don't let Shakky know that I said this, but most of the gender specialize in babying men and wasting valuable time. Right, after I got Boa and her crew to leave, taking Jimbei with them, I impressed the power of _haki_ onto Luffy's thick skull with a moderate demonstration of my capabilities. He was duly enraptured without me having to lay my hands on his head too many times and we had a quiet evening dining on roasted elephant.

He was pretty animated that night. Wanted me to show him _haki_ over and over again, which wasn't really a problem given the irascibility of the animals on that island. We bedded down around the fire pretty quickly and he told me some of the stuff he went through after Kuma sent him flying. On the surface, he seemed...fine, really. He didn't talk about Ace at all and I didn't bring it up - the last thing I needed was for him to lose his fool head and go careening off on a suicidal warpath. Indeed, the only odd thing he did was keep patting his hair, as if he wasn't used to air flowing around it constantly.

His hat? Well, he declared himself 'on vacation' from piracy once he hit the shore and saw _haki_ in action. Now that you mention it, though, that probably was a sign too. Let me see in the journal here...

Ah yes, "Day 23: Is he really this stupid?"

Now, one thing Garp and I agree on is the best way to train a youngster. Just throw the brat in there and see how long it survives. That sort of thing teaches discipline, teamwork, basic survival skills, adrenaline-based flight-fight-or-freeze negotiations -

You okay there, new dawn? You look a bit sickly - oh, yes, pardon me. I forgot that you have intimate knowledge of Garp's idea of training. You might want to daub off that young man's forehead as well - he's sweating like a piglet and whimpering like a whipped mongrel.

Anyway, I was very good the first two weeks. I was patient and explained what _haki_ was, the various _colours_, the applications, how he differed from most other people - I honestly tried not to go the Garp or Rogers route. I hadn't taken into account that this is how Luffy learned best - just throw him in the pit and let him crawl out on his own. I truly believe Garp beat all the smarts out that boy with that Fist of Love of his - even Shanks and Buggy could listen and learn sometimes.

Not Luffy. Oh no. Words roll off the boy's head like water off a duck's back, sometimes. I had to throw him in the deep end and pray that he could wade out. So sometime in the early morning of day 23, I dragged him, still sleeping, into the heart of the island's craziest menagerie and tossed him into a lion's mouth.

It took till day 31 for those animals to wear him out enough to use his _King's haki_ and when he did... I don't particularly feel like letting this one slip by, so I'll just tell you that he almost knocked me out. I'm fairly certain he got 30 seconds off my life with his outburst. The fact that you and your man-at-arms there got past it during the battle is downright amazing. I know I've been losing my grip, but still...the raw power of his will slamming into me was like that one time...

Here, I think I wrote it down in day 35, after I dragged him from that battle. Ah yes, in y own words even.

"His will is the single most astonishing thing I have felt since the first day I entered the Line. He is relentless beyond all mortal comprehension - tempered beyond all form of matter capable by metallurgy, carpentry or witchcraft. It defies the relatively frail form that encompasses his existence, such that I am gripped by the cold, certain knowledge that it will burn out even his personal will to live in order to attain his unstated goals."

Unstated goals? What, do you honestly believe that he's just as simple as 'I want to be the Pirate King?" No lad, he's got convictions behind that goal that are deeper than most of the Line and just as strong. That young sea's full of currents and volcanoes far under that fun-seeking surface. Just ask his crew - they pretty much leaned on his volcanoes and watched the explosion take out everything that ever stood in-between them and their dreams.

Glory above, that boy hates obstacles - hey now, are you laughing or crying? Look, you've gotten that young sun all upset and hooking knives around my throat. Easy, handsome, I'm not above a spot of molestation in order to get my own way, you know. Most of my scruples have been dead far longer than Rogers.

No wonder you keep him on your leash - he's as bad as that Roronoa fellow. Now there was something I'd have paid to see! When Mihawk sent me that letter...Ah well, you were here for Luffy, weren't you? I suppose I will have to tell you that tale some other time.

Now, now, don't look so disappointed, young sun - did you really expect that I'd sell out the whole crew so cheaply? I only said _most_ of my scruples are dead, not _all_.

Anyhow, Luffy was unconscious for a while after that battle - I can't tell you how I depopulated and deforested that island to feed that boy's metabolism as he was healing. Let's not begin on how his muscles became that much more developed and all-around denser - yes, he's a rubber man, but that rubber band is packing some ridiculously improbable elasticity in each muscle fiber.

In short, when he woke up, he had the physical potential to hit harder than the Buster Call that took out Ohara. Yet the boy still had no clue how he unleashed the _haki_.

Ahaha! You're laughing like you know it's true! Yes, sadly, it was. But that young sea has fathomless depths of determination when he settles on a goal, so he got it right eventually - pretty quickly actually. I even managed to sneak in a few good habits...

[~~~~~~]

Many, many miles away and days after a seagull came bearing news, Luffy hovers dangerously over the side of the _Thousand Sunny_, his eyes unfocused as he unconsciously maintains his stance using his abdomen as a pivot on the ship's railing. He feels content as he engages in a new, ship-wide routine - early morning tea-time with the entire crew. Sipping the Orange Pekoe that he's grown fond of after the turmoil on Fishman Island, he absentmindedly basks in the light of the rising sun, his eyes and the brim of the Hat quickly compensating for the new dawn's glow.

"Um. Good tea," Usopp sighs softly as he slowly swirls the contents of his cup. The sniper is on one side of his captain, his dark, raw silk-textured curls resting on one rubbery shoulder as they stream from under his white head wear. On his back, Chopper grunts his agreement, still sleepy but warm in the nest of thick hair. The doctor is trying to nuzzle his captain as surreptitiously as possible from his perch, but everyone understands that it's his unique form of communication with Luffy when the young captain's mood is deeper than his elastic face shows.

"Hn," Zoro agrees, squinting deeply with his lone eye as a sunbeam strikes his face at a particularly harsh angle. The dark tea in his small, wooden cup steams gently over his chin, softening the faint, craggy lines of worry that have developed in his jaw and his forehead. His elbows, as sharp and large as his own swords, only lightly nudge Luffy's dangling arm as he leans on the other side of the pirate captain - a silent wall of strength draped in an open green robe.

"It's the leaves you brought back - they're well-blended," Sanji concurs in a smoke and sleep-roughened voice, his pale, barely silk-covered ribcage bumping the nut-brown, lithely muscular arm on Usopp's other side. The crew's cook is half-dressed, his pants barely done up and his shirt unbuttoned as he stretches out his back over the railing while balancing his cup on his chest. His hair has fallen out of his eyes, fully revealing his styled eyebrows and thoughtful demeanour as the gears in his sly mind work.

Luffy hums in agreement as he looks up in the sky, comparing the faintly visible stars to the encroaching daylight. At this time of day, neither appears to be warring for dominance, merely complementing each other. Smoky grey clouds promise an early morning shower. Really, it is one of the more atypical mornings in the New World - many more days have been spent hauling in lines and securing freight as a monstrous hurricane sprung up out of nowhere, or backs broken under paddles as the sea remained woefully becalmed. It is both a welcoming and ominous sign of their proximity to their goal.

Briefly turning himself upside, Luffy regards his shipwright and musician as they indulge in a game of chess while enjoying their warm beverages. The oldest of the crew, both of these men have found a strange solace in each other's company since the crew's reunion - Franky is still amazed that Brook was willing to throw away his life of stardom for the dreams of the _Thousand Sunny's _crew, while Brook is even more amazed that Franky is willing to dispose of his humanity in equal measures so as to be a more useful tool to everyone.

"Ohoho, this has been a nice change of pace, hasn't it?" Brook chortles as he moves his bishop with one bony fingertip, the others idly strumming on hi guitar. "I think this is something we should not take for granted and enjoy to the fullest!"

"Soul King's right," Franky adds in his mechanized voice, his hands - both robotic and the more natural-looking pair - occupied with holding his tiny mug of tea and scratching his head as he puzzles out his next move.

Luffy rights himself without going overboard, only vaguely aware of the way his chosen mates tense their muscles as he completes the revolution over the railing. He has long gotten used to their edginess where he and saltwater are concerned. Besides, the Grand Line does not feel particularly murderous today, so he should be able to stay dry for a while.

"Na, I guess I'm pretty stupid, huh?" he blurted out, his eyes still on the sky and his mind far, far away. The men around him do not so much as shift, but a bewildering silence does fall over them. The silence washes over Nami and Robin as they wander out from the kitchen, their own cups of tea still piping hot.

Nami's gingery hair flows over her lightly freckled back and shoulder as she stops, cocks her head to a side and raises one clever eyebrow speculatively. Her casually sarcastic facade cleverly masks her deep, analytical examination of her captain. Robin coolly ignores the statement and goes to settle in her preferred deck chair. Feigned ignorance and close observation has always garnered more information than any of her drilling, icy stares. They would not work on her captain anyway.

"I mean," Luffy continues after a cleansing sip of tea from the mug which he miraculously managed not to overturn during his slow flip, "There's a whole bunch of stuff I don't know about and I don't try to learn about it. I just use you guys to keep me going in the right direction without killing myself."

There is no human sound to be heard other than the faint, erratic pulsing of multiple heart beats and puffing lungs and quiet tea slurping. Luffy doesn't really hear anything but the rolling groan of the turbulent Line as it chafes under the restraint of pleasant weather.

"Shishishi," he lets fly, his infectious, distinctive laugh bouncing over clouds and across the deck. His hat has slipped off of his head but still hangs securely around his neck, only slightly buffeted by the constant sea breeze. He turns upside down again, this time losing his tea in the process as his eyes crinkle under the weight of his enormous grin.

"Thanks a lot! You guys are the best crew ever- oh shit!"

The silence is broken by a chorus of snorts and chortles and giggles and sighs before Zoro and Usopp drag their captain from the ocean. Sanji ruffles the wet mop of black hair before moving off to start on a hot, nourishing breakfast, while Chopper dashes to his infirmary only to return and drop a pile of towels on top of their illustrious leader. Brook loudly belches a song, much to Nami and Franky's verbal disgust, while Robin quietly snickers behind her hand and opens a new book on her lap.

Underneath all the towels, like an injured rubber tree, thick, healing, sappy love coats and binds the many wounds closeted in Luffy's heart. Through all he has lost - family, homes, friends - he has come upon his greatest treasure. His smile hides the depths he will sink to in order to keep his treasure intact.

He is, after all, a pirate of the worst sort - one with a covetous heart of gold and self-serving scruples of basest lead.

[~~~~~~]

Coby is comfortable with Helmeppo's warmth wrapped around him. Rayleigh's voice is still melodious, deep with mystery and meaning like trenches hidden below the waves of the Calm Belt. The old rogue is far more lecherous and sly and _knowing_ than he had suspected, but he supposes that _that_ was why Garp and Sengoku gave him such dire warnings when he last visited them at the teaching facility.

Garp, underneath all of that bluster and roughness, had asked his protege to reconsider. Not the young man's dreams to capture Luffy and restore order to the seas - old Garp was more than ready to see his grandson behind bars on Level 6 of Impel Down - but the burning desire to talk to the youngest supernova's latest mentor. Garp had boiled descriptions of dealing with Rayleigh to a rather picturesque "wallowing in swamp water while trying to catch a 30-foot anaconda with a blade of grass and your shrivelled dick." Coby wishes that he had taken that statement more to heart as Garp dissolved under his trademark guffaws of mirth.

Of course, Helmeppo had been against it from the start. While the ensign managed to keep his temper under control, the swathe of knife-scarred training dummies at Mariejois would suggest that the struggle to maintain that clarity had been intense and perhaps not altogether successful. Though he disapproved vehemently, the blond was the first at the dock when Coby readied his new warship to set sail - indeed, Helmeppo was right by his side to terrorize the new sailors and hardened servicemen on the vessel.

Helmeppo whimpers, growls, and draws closer. Coby feels the swelling in his heart that he has always had for his loyal friend; his first comrade and his first mate.

Many people in Mariejois - twisted by their exposure to the Tenryuubito and other nobles - assume that Coby is sickeningly aggressive and domineering under his facade of eager youth. They think of him much like a young Kizaru or Akainu in training. They do not understand that he does not use fear on his men - although they do fear him and his first mate irrationally, based mainly on asinine rumours of his courage being a play for power. Nonsense born of the Marineford War.

No, fear is not his bond - respect is the tie he choses. He respects each and every one of them and would do his utmost to keep them safe while they help him achieve his goal.

The relationship between himself and his first mate is born of such respect. He respected the young Helmeppo's slow-burning desire to not be his father. He respected the way he was willing to work and improve himself, even if it was just because the blond followed the first person to ever call him a friend. It was as if an ignored, spoiled, badly beaten cur had, upon adoption into a lovingly stern and well-grounded home, blossomed into the worthwhile, strong, smart dog it always had the potential to become.

The stability of that foundation had been built on the work of another man he respected greatly - Monkey D. Luffy. A man who had quite frankly declared that he hated people like Coby.

Oh, it's true that he and Luffy are much more friendly rivals at the moment, driven by their goals, but that first meeting had stuck in Coby's head for all the time he had spent training. Why was Luffy so driven? Why did he hate those who gave up? Why did he help even when his own selfish desires would suggest he shouldn't? Or wouldn't?

Coby did not just want to beat Luffy. He wanted to understand Luffy and he has a corresponding desire to make Luffy understand him.

So here he is, on a cool night in Shabondy, sitting next to one of the most wanted pirates on the planet and obligingly listening to the garrulous old man as he regales him with tales of his rival. His loyal mate and lover - well, Rayleigh was correct, after all - is wrapped around him as a security blanket and shield against both the cold and a possible surprise attack. The deep sea is booming at the foot of the cliffs and the sky has faded to an endless blue-black. If not for the clouds and the foam, sea and sky would be indistinguishable.

It is one of the best nights he's ever seen.

"Ready to hear more, youngster?" Rayleigh croons in his ear, his breath warm and savory as he manages to sneak his lips around Helmeppo's suddenly alert knife and glare. Coby shivers and nods as his first mate's hand sneaks up to rub away the goosebumps at the back of his neck.

Rayleigh leans back swiftly as Helmeppo hops up to confront him, laughing all the while. Coby smiles but it is sad - he knows he's only delaying the inevitable. The admirals have already left Marineford to capture - no, who is he lying to? - to kill this old rogue. The mere fact that the indomitable Shakky left the archipelago more than three months ago is even more proof that this grey-haired sea dog is sitting on this cliff, this very night, waiting for his death.

The sea and the sky had combined their beauty not to please Coby, but as the Line's way of saying goodbye to one of its few conquerors.

Coby silently vows to listen this man's tales, no matter how winding. He respects him as the man who made his rival nigh-invincible - his honor demands that he follow through.


	2. Chapter 2

Do I know what I'm doing with this? No. I have not an effing clue.

Unbeta'd, unreviewed, raw as it comes.

* * *

><p>He recognizes it as soon as it floats past - mangled, broken, macabrely decorated with a splatter of blood, the droplets still clinging tenaciously despite the ravaging seas that the item has inexplicably survived. Indeed, as small and nigh-invisible as it is - wallowing defiantly in the ravenous waves - each of the nine pirates in the vicinity seems to be spellbound by the way the few remaining shards of glass in the twisted lens refracted the sunlight, casting dots of colors over the vast oceans of the New World.<p>

Zoro feels his stomach curl into a bitter, hard knot - as if the female marine captain in front of him has just punched him in the solar plexus despite his swords and superior reach currently holding her at bay. The ruined pair of glasses swirls past the interlocked ships and the phantom senses of his useless left eye follow it futile.

_Kitetsu_ sings harshly in his ears while _Wadou_ wails brokenly and _Shuusui_ mourns lowly. His mortal enemy - Tashigi, yes he has remembered her name - flinches ever so slightly as the melody of the swords winds through the air. At any other time, he may have been impressed by her demeanor but his rage and worry and distress are seething into a borderline volcanic explosion of violence.

"You couldn't leave well enough alone," the Straw-hat first mate growls, his remaining eye scrunching into a narrow, devilishly crimson slit. "He was -"

"A pirate. His end was predetermined," Tashigi states plainly, even though her shoulders speak of disgusted resignation. She, at least, had not approved. It cheers him not at all.

"_**No!**_" Zoro snarls, his voice growing deeper as his emotions boil closer to the surface. The spaces between his shoulders and neck writhe in an unnatural manner. "I was going to say that he was a _swordsman_. Did he at least die at the end of a **blade**?"

The damnable marine captain chooses not to answer. She frees her sword from his lock and increases the distance between them before dropping into a defensive crouch.

Zoro grunts as he changes his stance and focus, dropping his hands to his side as he closes his eye and shakes away unshed tears.

"You fool," he hisses though clenched teeth. "I'm the least of your worries."

Her dark, troubled eyes slide upwards to glance at the battle between her commanding officer and Zoro's captain, high overhead. Though she cannot see them, not really, she can feel the dark, murderous, oppressive aura descending over the area. Around and behind her, the demeanor of the Straw-hats changes drastically, roiling with worry and contempt and a deep, simmering rage. They are now truly serious about the fight - no longer do their eyes speak of running away at the first chance.

For the first time in many years, Tashigi fears for her commanding officer. Coby's warnings to them - to the admirals, to the Gorusei themselves - ring loudly in her ears, but Zoro's swords screech as he begins a relentless attack, effectively drowning out the memory as she begins a desperate fight for her life.

It is Marineford again. Once more the marines unnecessarily face demons of their superiors' making.

As Zoro and Tashigi clash repeatedly below, Luffy and Smoker disengage briefly to pant harshly, each rasping breath echoing loudly as they plummet towards the deck of the G5 ship still grinding along Sunny's broadside.

"He wasn't bothering you," Luffy comments dully, eyes trained on the broken spectacles as they are engulfed by the wake of the two ships. He pulls himself upright, snapping elastic bones and muscles until he is standing side-face, his arms dangling from his side, finally out of _Gear Third. _He appears oblivious to the searing heat of Sanji's leg passing less than two inches from his nose as the cook deflects and melts an oncoming barrage of cannon-balls before bouncing high into the air to rain the molten metal down on the G5 marines.

"He was a goddamn pirate, just like you. Justice doesn't stop looking for you just because you stop sailing in a crew!" Smoker grumbles out around his cigars as his bare chest coalesces out of the billowing smokescreen he has become. He absentmindedly shifts to grab his sea stone-tipped jutte, only to feel its stark absence. A large shadow is cast above him, and he frowns as he observes a large, carnivorous plant munching on his favorite weapon like an infant teething ring.

The leader of G5 hides his surprise as Luffy fails to take the opening. He would have expected such a sneak attack from any other pirate. He has no reason to believe that Luffy has the sort of honor to give up such a chance unless he feels the same strain as the G5 commanding officer.

'Tired, probably. He's been fighting near constantly since they reunited, so I hear.'

The thought brings Smoker's own fatigue to the forefront of his mind; it is all he can do to keep his shoulders and back straight as his age and years in service suddenly weigh down on him. He's been feeling discontent welling up in his soul since Aokiji gave control over to Akainu and it is pressing the breath out of his lungs faster than he can take in air.

Most heavy, however, is the depths of Straw-hat's eyes – black as the night sky, deep as King Neptune's realm. They seem to suck the life and color out of the world around them, make the atrocities that his crew is committing against the G5 soldiers feel like a bad, far-off dream. It is hard to pay attention to anything else, even as hail and lightning bombard his ship, even as gigantic limbs snap masts and hooves crush bodies, even as unholy ice creeps across the deck, the cold crystals reflecting the blinding light of lasers...

"Shit!" Smoker howls, shaking his head to clear the fog but it is too late. _King's haki _has already gone through his mind, although what is missing, he cannot yet say. Tashigi, hearing his frustrated yell, leaps away from Roronoa to take his back. Color and noise and pain swiftly return to his smoke-wreathed form, even as he marvels at the wonder the young sea before him has performed.

"Sir, what is it? Are you injured-?"

Luffy blinks and slips his hat back on his head. He looks at Smoker again and nods crisply, determination burning across his face.

"Oy, everyone! We're leaving!"

Some of the crew splutter in confusion, even as their attacks halt and they obediently pull back to his side. Smoker can't watch it all happen as the enormous plant disappears suddenly, leaving his jutte to drop almost directly on his head.

"Sir, look out!" Tashigi cries, even as a rubber whip collects the weapon at the point furthest from the sea stone tip, only to toss it across the vessels and into the sea. Smoker barely glances as the splash rises high in the air – he dares not let himself be caught unawares again.

"This isn't why he let himself get caught," Luffy explains to the marine, answering some unknown, unvoiced question that both crews bit back. "He'd probably come back and kill me if I wasted it here, you see. Him and Ace, too. So I'm out. Catch you later!"

With a hop and a leap, Luffy and his entire crew are back on the Thousand Sunny and the paddle wheels are whirring as sails are raised and lines cleared. Smoker yells automatically, nautical senses developed over long, salt-sprayed years kicking in to free his ship before it can be ground into powder by the escaping Adam-wood vessel.

"Oy, Smokey!"

The Vice-Admiral looks back, teeth bared and body ready for a sneak attack, but Luffy is still on board his own ship, quickly receding as the G5 ship totters and wallows now that it is no longer supported by the Thousand Sunny's impenetrable weight.

The shattered spectacles drip salt-water down one rubbery fist, but it cannot compare to the quantity spewing from his eyes.

"Tell Coby and H- h- that friend of his thanks! Old man Rayleigh really needed to have someone listen to all his stories before he died!"

"How the hell do you know..." Smoker begins, but a sudden burst of _haki_ consumes him, leaving he and Tashigi stunned for at least half a minute while the crew froths insanely before passing out.

[~~~]

By the time he and his first mate come back to their senses, they find themselves too busy trying to limp their rapidly sinking ship and comatose crew-mates to the nearest shore to dwell on what has happened. For many years, they will not openly speak about the loss of faith in their commanders and their own purposes that allowed one man's will to override them, even if only for a few seconds.

[~~~]

Smoker now sits impatiently outside the Fleet Admiral's door, his newly fashioned jutte resting on his knees while Tashigi nervously polishes her glasses once more.

"Admiral Sakazuki will see you now," a whimpering desk jockey mumbles as he rises from behind the safety of his oversized bureau. He takes great pains to avoid the G5 leader, choosing instead to talk to the sword-mistress.

"If you will come this way pl-" he begins, but is swiftly silenced as Smoker quite literally brushes him off and yanks open the large doors.

"Tashigi, with me, dammit!" Smoker snaps, eager to get as far away from land as possible and back into the hands of the sea with nothing but open sky overhead. HE already knows that this man, Akainu, will not be condescendingly handing down some bogus promotion to cover up piratical activities.

"Ah, Smoker, back from the New Line. Recently recuperated from a battle with Straw-hat Luffy and his crew that miraculously resulted in absolutely no pirate casualties and the loss of one naval vessel."

Smoker stops and stands at attention about halfway into the office, just as Akainu stops speaking and turns his immense chair around to face his visitors. For a few moments, he privately acknowledges how good it is to know that Tashigi has matched him stride for stride, a mere half-pace behind and to the right of him.

The moments stretch on in silence as Akainu takes care of other business, obviously letting them stew for a while. Neither of them fidget.

"So," the fleet admiral sighs as he signs away another battalion's life. "You do not even want to bluster excuses to me?"

"No, sir!" Smoker replies clearly, Tashigi's voice echoing his own.

"Oh?" Sakazuki purrs, and here he leans forward over his desk, hands clasped in a deceptively peaceful manner. "Not even something like this mess happened because I chose to get rid of that blistering annoyance, Rayleigh, not two weeks before you met Garp's grand-son?"

"No, sir!" Smoker replies clearly again, Tashigi's voice still echoing his own. "There is no excuse for our failure other than poor execution!"

Sakazuki's false cheer does not lessen the feeling of his eyes boring into either officer before him, but they do not flinch. The weight of his gaze is a mere tickle as compared to the full onslaught of a certain pirate's will. Eventually, the fleet admiral leans back in his seat to regard them with more thought and malice.

"You constantly just _happen_ to have run-ins with those Straw-hats - often times while you have the superior numbers - and yet you constantly_ fail_ to bring even one of them in, or at the very least execute them on the spot for piracy." Sakazuki muses aloud, eyes narrowed in contemplation. "With a record like that, someone might believe that you are double-agents of sorts."

Neither Smoker nor Tashigi respond. To dignify such an accusation is beneath their standards. Their silence, however, carries a distinct air of angry, righteous denial. It is a stark change from the blubbering, crying wastrels that he has disposed of so far. All in all, Sakazuki is pleased with their demeanor, but they are dangerous failures - far too popular with their underlings, too liberal in their applications of justice, too noble in their everyday living and far too merciful. It would not do to either get rid of them or allow them to advance further, so he decides to 'reward' them. The fleet admiral turns his chair away from them as he proclaims his sentence.

"Your pathetic attempts as a G5 leader are hereby punished: you are to be stripped of command and busted back down to captain; your second-in-command is busted straight back down to grunt. Now get to hell out of my office, you wastes of marine training. Be thankful I haven't had you arrested on suspicion of treason. My secretary will let you know when and where you've been reassigned."

"Yes, sir!"

[~~~]

"Coby was right, sir."

Smoker doesn't need to hear Tashigi say it out loud to know that it is true, but he finds it somewhat of a relief to have the words out in the open, on the breeze. He doesn't do much else but grunt in response before slamming home his gin.

They're in some grimy hole-in-the-wall in Loguetown, officially "on leave" as the demotions are filed and recognized. The owner of the establishment - a tall woman of shady origins and even more questionable practices - is idly reading the newspaper behind the bar, somehow fading into the background even though she wears a shockingly pink shirt and a blindingly spotted pants.

Smoker finds that he cannot remember how they got here, but Tashigi is wavering on her barstool, eyes blinking owlishly now that she's removed her glasses. She's also talking to the wall instead of him, but no matter.

"He was right! We never should have touched Rayleigh once he'd been in hiding for so long. I mean, he didn't even show up at the War - and that was all about his captain's son! He was never even spotted at Gol D. Rogers execution!"

"'S not true, that," Smoker growls as he re-lights fresh cigars. The bar owner apparently has an impressive selection of the best tobacco on the Line - for a price. Smoker figures that he might as well enjoy some of it before his pay is slashed.

"He was definitely there," he continues after he pulls on his smokes. "I remember that he stood out to me, in that massive crowd. He had this weird-"

And here Smoker fumbles for words, struggling to explain the indescribable attractiveness of the Pirate King's first mate. Finding himself at a complete loss, he turns hard eyes on the bartender.

"Dammit, Shakky, you should know what I'm talking about!"

The owner's left eyebrow slowly rises over the newspaper, but she does nothing otherwise. Tashigi is slow to understand what is going on, but when it finally sinks in, she falls off of her seat completely.

"C-c-captain! That woman-"

"Stand down, Tashigi," Smoker mumbles as he refills his glass and uses a stream of smoke to help her back on her feet. "We're on disciplinary leave, remember? We don't even have the authority to arrest Blackbeard even if he walked in here and surrendered to us."

Once back on her seat and pointed in the right direction, Tashigi remains confused enough to immediately find her glasses and put them on.

"But sir, we could report her to the local authorities-"

"No need, lieutenant," a youthful voice calls from the doorway. Smoker's ears perk up and he turns to face one of the World Government's youngest Vice-Admirals. His first mate carefully shuts back the louvered swing doors before joining the youngster's side.

Coby and Helmeppo seat themselves on the stools as Tashigi bounces up to full attention. Smoker's salute is far more relaxed towards his former colleague.

"You two know that you have a mandatory service charge of 300%, don't you? It's on top of the 150% markup for marines," Shakky purrs in a deceptively soft voice. She still hasn't looked up from her paper but it trembles ever so slightly.

"That's okay, ma'am," Coby says in a soft, regretful voice. He nods towards the former G5 duo and draws his wallet from his back pocket. "We'll even take care of their tabs as well."

There is silence for a good five minutes, punctuated only by the sounds of Shakky neatly folding her paper. She is stately as she rises to her feet, statuesque as she towers over the counter and her four patrons, her face stony as slate and her smile sharp as swords.

"Well then, lady and gentlemen, what can I get for you?"

[~~~]

The Straw-hats have, one by one, congregated in the room above the kitchen and infirmary. It is not some planned meeting called by their grieving captain, but an organic extension of their reunion, a desperate yearning to be near each other when the Line throws another horror at them. Luffy himself is sprawled over one of the couches, the back of his hat almost crushed against Zoro's legs as the swordsman meditates. Chopper bounces disconsolately on his rubber stomach and his stretchy feet drape over Nami's lap while she pores over a small atlas. Sanji and Usopp's hair tickle his ribs as they played cards on the ground while Brook and Robin help screw in a loose bolt on Franky's shoulder. They are all battered, bruised and bandaged - not an unusual state of being these days as they creep closer to their goal, but this time there is no underlying mirth or victorious partying.

They have been this way for over a week now, since the last battle with G5. The atmosphere is stilted, cloying, made all the worse by the Line's decision to smother all wind under a deep, gray blanket of heat and humidity. Nami is willing to work her touch on the weather but Luffy never gives the order - he merely hems and hahs before going back to eating or scratching or lazing.

Of course, it is Usopp who voices the thoughts of the others - the least of them in physical strength and prowess is still the most human and the most in tune with the feelings that no-one else is brave enough to reveal.

"Luffy, why'd we back down?" the sniper asks quietly, his voice sounding defeated even though he's currently beating Sanji's hand. His hair is out of its customary pony tail and the question leads Nami to brief run her hand through it in a calming gesture - for her sake or his is another question that cannot be answered at this time.

The captain hems and shrugs. By now, Usopp and the others know that the gesture does not mean "I don't know" so much as it means "I don't know how to explain my ultra-simple logic in ways your more complicated minds can take."

"I _know_," the sniper sighs, frustration and ill-concealed grief causing his voice to crack, because really, he does understand his captain, "Smoker and G5 didn't do a thing to Rayleigh and you say your friend Coby at least got his last words but... Ah dammit, I wish we could send the marines a message to just fuck with us directly and stop playing around with the people who just happen to help us!"

"Rayleigh didn't exactly just 'happen' to help us, y'know," Sanji grumbles as he lights a fresh cigarette. His eyes are gritty and he's leaning badly, obviously still suffering from exhaustion. "He trained our captain for two years. That's pretty actively helping the enemy in most people's books."

"Yeah, but they didn't do anything to Mihawk for training Zoro, now did they?" Usopp continues, flopping onto his back and closing his eyes as tears threaten to well up.

"Yeah, they did," Zoro mutters, his single eye slowly opening. "They punished him. Sensei just won't tell me _what_ they did."

Robin sweeps her icy stare over to the swordsman, noticing that he doesn't flinch from it, but he's hardly comfortable - vestiges of his youthfulness that manifest themselves in the slightest twitching of his jaws and his fingers.

"He hasn't contacted you since he sent you to the archipelago, Mr. Swordsman?"

Zoro does not answer immediately, because he is translating Robin's question which, as usual, means more than what it seems to be on the surface. His eye narrows in his signature glare as he wrestles words into something approximating his feelings.

"He has to be alive or else we can't finish our duel and my dream..."

Really, no more than that needs to be said. It is not an avenue that they wish to pursue, so they are silent for a while. The card game resumes, Brook reaches for an oil can while Robin finds a book and seats herself next to Nami.

Chopper feels the strain in the air as his fur rises up on the nape of neck

"Luffy, is something wrong with your _haki_?" the reindeer asks as he fiddles with his hat, striving to change the topic. "You used it twice, but it didn't knock Smoker or his crew out the first time."

Luffy laughs, rising from the couch and bouncing Chopper on to his shoulders. His hat is cocked over his eyes as he stumbles around the room.

"I read Ol' Smokey's mind is what I did!" he crows to his giggling passenger. "It's this mysterious trick I picked up when...when I was... when I was staring at Rayleigh one night..."

As Luffy's voice begins to hitch and fat tears well up in the corner of his eyes, the crew becomes crestfallen again, despite their intrigue regarding his newest technique. Sanji tries not to think of a certain shitty old geezer he knows while Zoro purposefully ignores memories of Mihawk's castle. Robin pensively considers Saul's sacrifice and Chopper starts pouting for Doctoress Kureha. Nami sighs as she wondered how the old men in Weatheria are faring and Usopp curses quietly as he tries not to think about Heracles alone in the Forest of Gluttony. So many have helped them along the way and it is hard to believe that they will all escape the World Government's indiscriminate wrath.

"Enough," Brook states simply, wielding his guitar with a flourish now that Battle Franky 37 is well-lubricated. "There's no time to behave like this. Guilt and regret are just as likely to kill us as the entire navy!"

"Yeah, robo. We ain't got far to go before we reach there, so how about a little celebration," Franky suggests after he closes himself up. "Come outside with me, lemme show you something, robo."

[~~~]

Smoker is very, very drunk and he knows it; he is limp on his stool, his head resting on the counter of the bar while the smoke from his cigars and his own form mingle into an interminable cloud of burning particulates. Tashigi wisely gave up her drinking and switched to tap water, one of the few things Shakky didn't charge extra on. He's exceedingly thankful for that, as he's pretty sure that he will never be able to pay Coby back for this binge if Tashigi decides to let loose.

Coby, too, is pretty drunk, a high, red blush permanently staining his nose and cheeks - at least until he got the booze out of his system. Helmeppo is surprisingly good at holding his liquor, or else he's been sipping the same damn drink all night. At any rate, the man is able to hold Coby up as the Vice-Admiral sways dangerously in his seat while telling Shakky all bout his first encounter with Luffy.

As if physically feeling Smoker's eyes on him, Helmeppo turns around and answers one of the many unspoken questions.

"Garp parties - you either get happy fast or hold booze like a fish holds water."

Well, really, that is all the explanation needed. Shakky rolls her eyes and mutters something rather unsavory about Garp while collecting Helmeppo's glass.

"Like hell am I throwing good rum into bottomless pits like you two. Zoro is bad enough."

For some reason, the marines in the bar find this statement hilariously true. They roar with laughter, especially when Coby admits that Zoro's first stop after being freed from Helmeppo's dad was a bar.

Tashigi's still laughing her throat raw after the others die down, her voice scratchy and shrill and a little hysterical as she tells the tale of how she and Smoker encounter Luffy and the crew in Loguetown. The shrillness only dies down when she speaks of her encounter with Zoro in the sword shop. There's grudging respect underlying her anger and disbelief, and Smoker can see that Helmeppo's gaze is far too knowing.

"Hey, you should join my crew," Coby whispers, leaning farther out of his seat than is strictly necessary to do the job. He begins to tilt rather precipitously, but Smoker manages to catch him in his lap. Helmeppo hides a smirk and goes back to listening to Tashigi.

"Oy, brat, what for? Pity on me for being demoted?" Smoker grouses as Coby decides to make himself comfortable. "Fuck n-"

"I want you to join because you know Luffy. You've been chasing him longer than I have, really. You should have a chance to be there when I arrest him."

Smoker takes a sip of his last drink - a cold beer straight from the keg - and studiously ignores the Vice-admiral who has started to drool on his pants.

"Oh, and Tashigi will finally get to show Zoro that she really is better with a sword." Coby continues, his voice slurring ridiculously as the alcohol and sleep get the better of his smaller frame. "Just, you know, it's gonna be a small crew - Akainu won't give me anything to work with 'cept a leaky boat - and I think you guys would be perfect for it seeing as how you know the Straw-hats as well as I do. You don't want that?"

Smoker contemplates a scuff mark on his rather aged, standard-issue boots, pulling his pickled brains together as best as he can. By the time he's formulated his answer, Coby has already started snoring softly without him noticing.

"What I want is real justice," Smoker mumbles before sipping his beer and sighing. "Which probably means that you're gonna have to find space for two more in this leaky tub of yours... Hey, wake to hell up and listen when you're recruiting people!"

Helmeppo and Tashigi giggle conspiratorially as Smoker fumes and Coby, now rolling around on the floor, rubs the new bump on the back of his head. Shakky smiles to herself - secretively, sadly - as she watches the beginning of the end, again.

"A new dawn over a young sea, eh?" she whispers, pretending that it's not Rayleigh's rough, ghostly chuckle that she hears in her ears.

[~~~]

"What the hell is it?" Sanji asks as Usopp, Chopper and Luffy circle around the oversized fire-cracker out on the lawn with stars in their eyes.

"A rocket design I've wanted to work on, robo-"

"Enough with the 'robo' talk. _Please,_" Robin stresses, her face radiating annoyance without so much as a raised eyebrow.

"Well I built this as a test model first - can't exactly carry anyone up yet, but I think a guy like Rayleigh deserves fireworks," Franky explains, shrugging his massive shoulders once. He pops open the tip of one robotic finger to reveal a small laser gun. As the beam is prepared, he turns to the rest of the crew.

"Stand back folks, since this is totally experimental and such. Don't want anyone gettin' hurt- oy, Luffy, what the hell are you doing?"

It's already too late though. Luffy, with Chopper on his shoulders and Usopp under one arm, has already hopped onto the rocket, wrapping his free arm around it like a lasso. In the process of leaping onto the oversized sparkler, he's knocked Franky's hand down to the fuse, which is now lit and rapidly decreasing.

"Blast off!" Luffy yells, while Chopper cheers and Usopp just plain screams bloody murder.

"Shit, hit the deck!" Nami shrieks as the rocket flares explosively into life, moving from zero to too-fucking-fast in the blink of an eye; Robin has already created a pair of giant hands to pluck the ladies to safety. Her cry nearly comes too late for Brook and Sanji, who narrowly escape sudden baldness by leaping up to Zoro's gym in the crow's nest. The swordsman is already there, having wisely sized up the item on the lawn as incipient trouble and finding it a good reason to go train and drink sake, not necessarily in that order. He manages to smirk at his comrades and toast the launch at the same time.

"Yahoo!" Luffy screeches as Chopper and Usopp wail loudly, the sounds distorted by the rushing air and the murderous force of gravity. "This is so much fun~!"

"Ah, wait a sec?" Usopp yelps as the ride swiftly decelerates. "Why are we slowing down?"

"Better yet, why are we dropping?" Chopper yells as the rocket fuselage begins to break up. Luffy and his friends are soon left with nothing but air beneath them as the nose cone continues without them.

Then all words are lost as the cone erupts into a frenzy of colored light, morphing into a picture of Rayleigh. Silence reigns for a noticeable length of time as Luffy, Usopp and Chopper begin their descent, until the Straw-hat Captain finally finds the words that mean everything to his crew and himself.

"I'm going to be the next Pirate King!" he howls in a _haki_-enhanced, booming voice as the wind begins to claw at his plummeting form. "I'm going to live my dream, and a lot of it'll be thanks to you, Rayleigh!"

"Thank you!" his crew yells in turn to the twinkling visage overhead, and then it's a flurry of activity as Usopp's massive sargasso kelp sprout up to catch the rocket riders, who are further cushioned by Chopper's defensive form, causing fur to fly everywhere when they land. The kelp is so huge and entangling that Zoro and Sanji are forced to clean it up with a tornado of blades and fire. The flaming kelp creates huge swathes of blinding smoke that Robin's gigantic hands are forced to fan away as Nami calls down a thunderstorm to out the conflagration. Franky unleashes his lawn mower form to further mulch the enormous kelp clippings that somehow failed to be charred or torn to shreds. After masses of potential seaweed salad are finally packed away, Luffy asks Brook for 'that song' which he gladly plays while hooked up to the Sunny's newly-installed amplifier, leaving the crew to sing along, swill grog, tell stories of their time apart and laugh and laugh and laugh.

To this day, sailors on the Line swear that you can hear laughter echoing in the air, punctuated by the booming voice of a giant. They say that the seaweed sometimes runs viciously thick, tangling anchors and hulls. They say that fur and hail will rain from sudden thunderstorms, if a tornado full of smoke and fire doesn't rip everything to shreds.

Marines in particular call the spot _Monsters' Wailing_, but pirates - only the very best or the very worst, mind you - have historically called that area _Rayleigh's Legacy_.

And really, no-one who knows the truth can find it in their heart to say that Rayleigh deserved a better tribute.

[~~~]

Cocking his head to one side, Coby _thinks_ he can hear Luffy yelling into the breeze, announcing his imminent rise to the position of Pirate King. Chuckling as he watches his crew - new and old - grow restless in their sleep for a few moments, he gives a drunken, mocking salute in the general direction of the Calm Belt and the Grand Line beyond it.

Then he prays that his hangover will end sometime within the next few days.

[~~~]


End file.
